Wei Zhen thought a child would be easy to coax, but he was terribly mistaken.
He placed the gifts he was carrying at the doorstep and was about to leave when Li Xiaoya called out to him, "Wait."
Wei Zhen let out a sigh of relief, "Have you changed your mind?"
"Do you know how to feed chickens and pigs?" Li Xiaoya asked him.
Wei Zhen had a bad feeling about this and said, "No, I don't."
Li Xiaoya replied, "If you don't know, you need to learn. Go do it now."
"Me? Learn to feed chickens and pigs?" Wei Zhen had never heard such an absurd order in his life.
But at that moment, Ning Heng leisurely came out from inside the house, "Hurry up, I'll teach you."
As Ning Heng walked past Li Xiaoya, he said to her, "Good little sister, you know how to care for your big brother Ning, lightening his burden a bit."
Wei Zhen was furious. He looked at Li Xiaoya and reminded her sternly, "Driving me away won't do you any good."
"Then you can leave," Li Xiaoya said matter-of-factly.
Wei Zhen had to try a different approach to persuade her, "Do you know what kind of fortune you'll be missing out on?"
"Hmm, my dad used to say the same thing to people who looked down on him. In the end, my dad ran off with their money."
"..."
Wei Zhen immediately cursed Li Xiaoya's damn runaway father a million times in his heart.
Otherwise, how could a little girl, at such a young age, have already learned to be wary of everything?
"Are you going to feed them or not?" Li Xiaoya asked Wei Zhen.
Wei Zhen's mouth twitched, "I'll do it."
What else could he do?
This burly man, in order to complete his task, had to wear a suit and learn how to feed chickens and pigs with a fierce expression on his face.
This went on for two days.
Li Xiaoya squatted outside the pigsty, frowning, "The pigs aren't eating."
Wei Zhen was covered in dirt and felt like he reeked of manure. He had never suffered such hardship in his life. Even when he was fighting mercenaries abroad, he shouldn't have been here feeding pigs. At this moment, he had to explain to Li Xiaoya, "I fed the pigs normally."
Ning Heng looked at him with disgust, "Is it because this person's face is too fierce and detestable that even the pigs lose their appetite after looking at him for too long?"
Wei Zhen: "..." He really couldn't take it anymore.
[LOL, wasn't this guy so arrogant before?]
[Li Xiaoya single-handedly made the young master Sheng's life more comfortable, outsourcing all the housework]
[I don't understand, if he came to find her relatives, why doesn't Li Xiaoya just go with him?]
[You can't just believe anyone who says so, you're not as smart as Li Xiaoya.]
[+1, at least her mother's family members should come to pick her up in person. Right now, it's just a subordinate, it feels like their family isn't sincere about bringing her back]
[She'd better not leave, let Little Ya finish recording the show before leaving]
[Yes, yes, leave after finishing the recording!]
The audience silently cheered in the bullet comments.
At this time, Sheng Yuxiao had already borrowed a car from the production team and was going to take Li Xiaoya to the city to find a veterinarian.
Li Xiaoya reminded Sheng Yuxiao, "There's a vet in the village, and it's cheaper."
Sheng Yuxiao put her in the car without listening, "I checked the weather forecast, it's going to snow. Let's buy a couple of pieces of clothing while we're at it."
Ning Heng quickly squeezed into the car as well, "I'm coming too, I'm coming too."
Even Xu Ruying was bored and thought about changing course to go home once they reached the county town.
Just then... Li Xiaoya leaned out of the window and said to Wei Zhen, "You stay at home and watch the house."
Using him as a watchdog? She really wasn't polite at all. Wei Zhen was speechless inside, but on the surface, he respectfully agreed.
It started snowing heavily the day they drove into town.
Li Xiaoya wasn't looking forward to buying new clothes, but instead was a bit worried, "Once it snows, the manure pit will freeze."
Ning Heng's expression cracked a bit, "Huh? This thing freezes?"
Li Xiaoya nodded, "Yes, it does."
Ning Heng asked a stupid question, "What happens when it freezes?"
"We won't be able to dispose of waste or use the toilet."
"Then what do we do?" Ning Heng asked again.
"We have to clear the accumulated snow every day, pour hot water over it, and clear away some of it."
"C-clear away?" Ning Heng's voice was trembling.
"Yes, we can transport it to the fields. This way, the soil will be very fertile next year. After winter sets in, every household does this."
"Can that guy in the black suit handle it alone?" Ning Heng thought to himself, this person came at just the right time, otherwise it would have been my turn!
Li Xiaoya thought for a moment, "It's hard to say."
As soon as these three words came out, Ning Heng immediately looked at Sheng Yuxiao, "Brother Sheng, it's not that I don't want to be a good person, it's just that I have a phobia of manure pits. Can I go home now?"
Sheng Yuxiao didn't even spare him a glance, "What's the rush?"
Ning Heng cried, "I can't do it, brother, I really can't. Look at me, how easily I could fall into the manure pit again."
Sheng Yuxiao put his arm around his shoulder, and the two huddled together, whispering something inaudible.
When the car stopped in the county town, Ning Heng got out first, walking away while saying without looking back, "Brother Sheng, I'll definitely accomplish this mission!"
Li Xiaoya watched Ning Heng's silhouette disappear into the snow and wind, and couldn't help but ask, "Why did he leave?"
"He's going back to the city to help me with something," Sheng Yuxiao said casually. He then picked up Li Xiaoya and got out of the car, "Are you cold?"
"Not cold, I'm used to it."
Xu Ruying had left too, and in the blink of an eye, it was just the two of them again.
Sheng Yuxiao first went to find a veterinarian and asked the production team to take them back, then he took Li Xiaoya shopping in the county town.
"Should have kept someone to pay," Sheng Yuxiao frowned.
Li Xiaoya felt her pocket, "I brought the money from selling mushrooms last time."
Sheng Yuxiao shook his head, "How much can that buy?"
However, after browsing a whole street, Sheng Yuxiao hadn't found a single coat he liked.
They were all incredibly ugly.
"Come on, let's go to the mall and look around."
"We can't afford anything there," Li Xiaoya was very aware of how much money she had in her pocket.
"What are you afraid of? We can always owe money."
"Huh? We can do that?"
"Yes, of course we can," Sheng Yuxiao figured his face should be quite well-known in the county town by now, "Besides, I guess the person behind Wei Zhen won't be able to sit still for much longer. When he comes to Li Family Village to pick you up in person, you can wear your new clothes."
Li Xiaoya nodded slightly.
Sheng Yuxiao couldn't help but smile, "Why do you believe everything I say?"
"Um, I just do."
Sheng Yuxiao paused his steps, "Look, there's a KFC. Let's go in and buy you an ice cream cone."
The KFC was very noisy, packed with children and adults.
An adult patiently asked their child, "What do you want to eat?"
The child loudly said, "Family bucket!"
The adult tried to persuade, "You can't eat that much."
"No, no, I want it!" The child began to throw a tantrum.
This mode of interaction between parents and children was very fresh to Li Xiaoya. She couldn't help but look a bit longer, as if absorbing a taste of happiness from their brief dialogue.
"The cashier is very crowded, you wait here for me." Sheng Yuxiao didn't have much money in his pocket, but it was enough to buy an ice cream cone.
He picked up Li Xiaoya and placed her on a high stool by the window, then pushed his way through the crowd towards the cashier.
The staff struggled to carry their cameras, being jostled back and forth.
Li Xiaoya sat on the high stool, but it was as if she had been placed on an island, far from the crowded masses.
Outside the window, the snow was falling heavier and heavier. To avoid the snow, more and more people were coming into KFC. The streets gradually became sparse.
There was one person who wasn't avoiding the snow.
He stood out particularly on the street.
Li Xiaoya's gaze fixed on him through the glass window.
She saw that the man was wearing a dirty white coat, clutching something in his hand that was getting wet from the snowflakes. He kept grabbing passersby, asking them something.
But his manner of inquiry was strange.
He was waving his arms vigorously, with exaggerated body movements...
Was he deaf and mute?
Li Xiaoya wondered, dazed.
Perhaps it was because that day Sheng Yuxiao's uncle had specifically mentioned that one of her mother's brothers was mute. So Li Xiaoya paid a bit more attention to this person—
The people he grabbed were all in a hurry to avoid the wind and snow, their movements becoming increasingly rough as they pulled their arms away.
The man lost his balance and fell to the ground.
But he quickly got up again.
At this moment, he seemed to keenly sense that someone was watching him.
He turned his head and looked towards Li Xiaoya.
Li Xiaoya's gaze briefly met his.
Then the man suddenly ran towards Li Xiaoya.
Due to the slippery, snow-covered road, the man fell twice more. Finally, he rushed to the glass window and, through it, stared intently at Li Xiaoya.
Li Xiaoya desperately wanted to offer him a tissue to wipe the snow and grime from his face. But the glass separated them.
Li Xiaoya exhaled softly, averting her gaze slightly, feeling a twinge of discomfort.
Suddenly, the man sprinted to the KFC entrance, pushed the door open, and barged in. He shoved his way through the crowd, ignoring the numerous complaints he provoked. He made a beeline for Li Xiaoya, grabbed her chin forcefully, and tilted her face upward.
The man seemed almost frozen stiff.
His fingers were icy cold, rigid, and gripping tightly.
He opened his mouth twice, trying to speak, but no sound came out.
Li Xiaoya instinctively shuddered and was about to break free.
At that moment, Sheng Yuxiao returned. He shoved the man away, shouting angrily, "What do you think you're doing?"
The man, pushed by such force, stumbled backward and fell to the ground.
The surrounding patrons were startled and quickly moved away.
The staff members were also flustered. As they started to squeeze through, Sheng Yuxiao berated them harshly: "Are you all blind? Didn't you see this lunatic approach Li Xiaoya?"
Li Xiaoya quickly grasped Sheng Yuxiao's hand, attempting to calm him down. She said loudly, "I'm fine! Sheng Yuxiao, I'm alright!"
As she spoke, she looked towards the man who had fallen to the ground.
The man lifted his head from the floor, still stubbornly staring at her, and then tears began to stream down his face.
